Brazil President Dilma Rousseff Impeached By Senate

Brasilia: After a nine-month impeachment process, Dilma Rousseff has been dismissed as president by the Brazilian senate. The lawmakers convicted her of breaking budget laws.

The vote that finalized Rousseff’s dismissal from Brazil’s highest office came on Wednesday, two days after she delivered an emotional speech to defend herself before legislators.

Sixty-one senators of the 81-strong body voted against the now-former president. Twenty senators voted against the impeachment.

Rousseff is the first Brazilian leader to be dismissed from office since 1992, when Fernando Collor de Mello resigned before a final vote in his impeachment trial for corruption.

Rousseff considers the impeachment motion against her a coup staged by right-wing political forces with the help of the media.

Former Vice-President Michel Temer will now act as Brazil’s president until his term expires in 2018. He is facing the toughest economic crisis the Latin American country has seen since the 1930s and his government is taking painful austerity measures to address the budget deficit.

Temer’s ability to tackle those problems remains in question, as there are signs of resistance to his proposals in congress.